Wow! Thank you so much Sharon. It's a lovely poem and so accurate as to the way I feel at the moment. Your mind reading skills are as sharp as your writing skills! Nessa commented it would put a smile on my face but it did much more than that - it has made me feel a whole range of emotions and question the reason for my initial request.

IG - would you believe I put that last stanza in, then took it out, and finally put it back in again. I think you are probably right. But more importantly, I'm really, really, pleased that you offered some thoughts to help me make it better - thank you.

Bobby - I can't tell you how pleased I am that you took the time to come back and read this again - thank you xx

mybabyjohn/Delores - I don't think I've ever been honoured with a poem in return before - thank you!

Joe - thank you - for giving me the motive to write this and for leaving such a great comment. And as for borrowing it - I'm hugely flattered that you'd want to - and very pleased too. It's a long time since my words were used as song lyrics, but that's another story...

The feeling I got from reading this is that what starts out as a "noble pursuit" actually ends up in futilty-separating the "builder" rather than achieving any worthwhile purpose. I automatically thought of writing as the act and wondered if that's a fear within every writer-that what they're doing is ultimately purposeless...And then I realised that by even thinking these thoughts your writing had connected to me, and so many other people. Therefore, I think the "building" act of writing is profoundly important. Bottom line: keep writing. Fabulous poem!!